The other day Betty Broderick was refused parole, which is fine by me. Betty crept into the house her former husband shared with his new, young wife and shot them both dead as they slept. It was an end to a long period of harassment and the double murder was probably foreseeable. Betty's children testified against her. It isn't as if I haven't some sympathy for the old wife, mother of five, who, after years of an unhappy marriage, is replaced by a younger, more attractive younger woman. On the other hand, Broderick seems to have been a virtual harridan before and after the marriage ended. However, Betty believed she should be allowed to walk free because her former husband's behavior provoked her. Some of the members of the first jury agreed and that trial ended in a hung jury. The second trial resulted in a guilty verdict. The murders have been topics of at least two made-for-TV movies and the trials were beamed to one and all on Court TV. It made for fascinating viewing.
Twenty years later, Betty remains bitter and hung up on that bad ending to an unhappy marriage. She has learned nothing and seems unwilling or unable to acknowledge that she murdered two people in cold blood. Her supporters think that Betty is no menace to society but who knows what else might set her off? More importantly, she killed two people for which she received a sentence of 32 years to life. Her children are divided: Two believe Betty should be paroled and two do not. I'm with the latter two.
How much is a life worth these days? At age 19, Leslie Van Houten helped murder Leno and Rosemary Labianca at the request of Charles Manson. She was sentenced to death for her crimes, but later received a life sentence when the death penalty was eliminated. Now, Leslie wants out. In fact, she's wanted out almost since she realized she would be in jail for the rest of her life. I have no doubt that Leslie will never murder again, but she was sentenced to life for her part in killing two strangers in their own home not for money but for kicks. I suppose that she, as the least objectionable to the Manson Maidens will sometime in the near future gain a parole. But she participated in the murder of two people. Susan Adkins recently died in prison and frankly I think Leslie Van Houten should also die behind bars because it seems to me that two lives are worth at least that much,.
I guess now I'll have to turn in my card as a warm hearted liberal.
